Boiling Hot with Boyce Watkins is a hot show featuring Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. Dr. Watkins is the author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" and "Everything you ever wanted to know about college". He also makes regular appearances on CNN, BET, ESPN, CBS and other national networks.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

CNN Kills the Birther Movement Once and For All

Let’s hope that the Birther Movement is on its way out the door. If it isn’t completely out the door, it’s on its death bed. CNN has engaged in an all-out assault on the Birther Movement by doing a detailed investigation on whether or not President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

In the video below, the network goes to the extreme to settle the question once and for all. Personally, I found the investigation to be quite compelling. There are others, however, including Donald Trump, who’ve spent all of their time engaging in their own investigations and coming to “very interesting” conclusions.

As I mentioned yesterday when referencing the attacks on Obama by Donald Trump, I’m actually glad that leading Republican Presidential candidates are building political bridges to nowhere. The fact remains that a) spending time on the Birther issue is only going to make potentially legitimate candidates look silly when the myth is refuted, and b) the American public really doesn’t care about the issue, at least not as much as they care about jobs, education and the other things that actually matter.

Rev. Al Sharpton and I discussed the Birther issue at length on his show yesterday. Given that Sharpton is a bit more committed to the Obama Administration than I am (I will likely vote for Obama, but I don’t fall in love with any political candidate and try to evaluate them as objectively as possible), I’ll have to admit that I didn’t want to even discuss the Birther issue for very long. But Sharpton had a lot to say about it, and Republicans should understand that going down to “Crazyville” with Birther Conspiracy theories only serves to bolster Obama supporters in their ability to undermine the credibility of the Republican Party. Personally, when Sharpton and I spoke, I preferred to hit other issues, like the pending death of Rocky Clark and the arrest of Tonya McDowell. So, whether you’re Democratic or Republican, discussing the Birther issue is simply a misuse of valuable time.